Maik Kuivenhoven advanced to the quarterfinals of Players Championship 21 at the expense of Luke Littler. Among others, Michael van Gerwen, Dave Chisnall and Stephen Bunting have also made it to the last sixteen.
Kuivenhoven benefited in the early stages from a sloppy Littler, who missed the necessary darts on the doubles. The Dutchman handled his chances much better and took a 4-1 lead with a 13-darter and a 65 finish, among other things. Littler then reduced the deficit to 4-3 with a 170 finish and a 15-darter, but then missed 11 doubles in the eighth leg. Kuivenhoven punished these misses by throwing out 58 to make it 5-3. Kuivenhoven then took the win with a 14-darter. In the last eight Kuivenhoven will take on Benjamin Drue Reus, who was 6-4 too strong for William O'Connor.
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Elsewhere, Gian van Veen reached the last eight by beating Ian White 6-5 after falling behind 4-2 earlier in the match. Michael van Gerwen defeated James Wade 6-3 for a spot in the quarterfinals. Van Veen and Van Gerwen will face each other in the next round.
Completing the last eight in Wigan, Dave Chisnall faces Stephen Bunting and Damon Heta does battle against Ritchie Edhouse.
Quarterfinals
Dave Chisnall - | - Stephen Bunting
Damon Heta - | - Ritchie Edhouse
Maik Kuivenhoven - | - Benjamin Reus
Gian van Veen - | - Michael van Gerwen
Last 16
Dave Chisnall (99.41) 6 | 1 (81.37) Jonny Clayton
Stephen Bunting (98.59) 6 | 5 (96.25) Thibault Tricole
Damon Heta (101.59) 6 | 3 (91.70) Gerwyn Price
Ritchie Edhouse (101.86) 6 | 3 (94.69) Christian Kist
Maik Kuivenhoven (90.68) 6 | 3 (89.85) Luke Littler
Benjamin Reus (89.33) 6 | 4 (85.25) William O'Connor
Gian van Veen (91.10) 6 | 5 (94.22) Ian White
Michael van Gerwen (94.91) 6 | 3 (89.98) James Wade
Last 32
Dave Chisnall (92.98) 6 | 3 (86.64) Jeffrey De Zwaan
Jonny Clayton (95.21) 6 | 4 (93.47) Daryl Gurney
Thibault Tricole (100.01) 6 | 3 (102.54) Danny Noppert
Stephen Bunting (100.65) 6 | 1 (90.91) Haupai Puha
Damon Heta (100.33) 6 | 5 (105.15) James Hurrell
Gerwyn Price (99.47) 6 | 5 (99.80) Wessel Nijman
Christian Kist (83.41) 6 | 2 (84.30) Madars Razma
Ritchie Edhouse (92.02) 6 | 0 (71.06) Mensur Suljovic
Luke Littler (104.55) 6 | 2 (99.14) Dirk van Duijvenbode
Maik Kuivenhoven (89.47) 6 | 5 (84.20) Jim Williams
Benjamin Reus (87.93) 6 | 4 (88.63) Adam Warner
William O'Connor (94.35) 6 | 4 (87.39) Mike De Decker
Ian White (101.97) 6 | 1 (94.24) Gabriel Clemens
Gian van Veen (86.77) 6 | 3 (87.69) Michael Smith
James Wade (101.24) 6 | 2 (88.73) Mario Vandenbogaerde
Michael van Gerwen (99.64) 6 | 3 (94.89) Karel Sedlacek
Last 64
Dave Chisnall (90.37) 6 | 5 (85.84) Lee Evans
Jeffrey De Zwaan (90.42) 6 | 5 (95.91) Kim Huybrechts
Jonny Clayton (95.37) 6 | 5 (93.13) Keane Barry
Daryl Gurney (107.69) 6 | 1 (91.14) George Killington
Danny Noppert (101.56) 6 | 1 (82.87) Michele Turetta
Thibault Tricole (99.36) 6 | 4 (91.90) Joe Cullen
Stephen Bunting (99.38) 6 | 2 (94.32) Darren Beveridge
Haupai Puha (93.35) 6 | 3 (90.82) Luke Woodhouse
Damon Heta (104.06) 6 | 3 (92.40) Keegan Brown
James Hurrell (94.63) 6 | 3 (95.79) Jermaine Wattimena
Gerwyn Price (86.23) 6 | 3 (83.98) Jitse Van der Wal
Wessel Nijman (102.48) 6 | 0 (81.64) Jurjen van der Velde
Christian Kist (86.35) 6 | 4 (89.26) Adam Hunt
Madars Razma (102.72) 6 | 2 (98.81) Andrew Gilding
Mensur Suljovic (88.09) 6 | 3 (81.16) Josh Payne
Ritchie Edhouse (93.82) 6 | 3 (91.72) Jelle Klaasen
Luke Littler (98.85) 6 | 4 (100.72) Nick Kenny
Dirk van Duijvenbode (101.79) 6 | 2 (85.50) Martin Lukeman
Jim Williams (98.44) 6 | 3 (91.71) Mickey Mansell
Maik Kuivenhoven (91.65) 6 | 4 (84.94) Berry van Peer
Benjamin Reus (91.46) 6 | 5 (94.19) Ryan Searle
Adam Warner (90.19) 6 | 2 (83.98) Andy Baetens
William O'Connor (95.34) 6 | 4 (90.64) Andy Boulton
Mike De Decker (100.22) 6 | 5 (101.47) Graham Hall
Ian White (101.71) 6 | 5 (100.19) Ross Smith
Gabriel Clemens (102.41) 6 | 5 (89.54) Rhys Griffin
Gian van Veen (97.72) 6 | 4 (93.73) Connor Scutt
Michael Smith (87.08) 6 | 4 (100.06) Florian Hempel
Mario Vandenbogaerde (95.83) 6 | 4 (95.38) Jeffrey Sparidaans
James Wade (91.24) 6 | 5 (90.33) Scott Williams
Michael van Gerwen (99.96) 6 | 2 (97.99) Ryan Meikle
Karel Sedlacek (100.20) 6 | 3 (95.14) Cameron Menzies
Last 128
Dave Chisnall (97.63) 6 | 1 (93.48) Jose De Sousa
Lee Evans (95.44) 6 | 3 (88.28) Niels Zonneveld
Jeffrey De Zwaan (85.78) 6 | 3 (87.94) Dimitri Van den Bergh
Kim Huybrechts (98.12) 6 | 4 (90.27) Vincent van der Voort
Jonny Clayton (97.86) 6 | 2 (91.60) Robert Grundy
Keane Barry (97.63) 6 | 3 (89.86) Owen Roelofs
Daryl Gurney (99.10) 6 | 4 (92.85) Wesley Plaisier
George Killington (93.34) 6 | 4 (84.68) Graham Usher
Danny Noppert (91.44) 6 | 3 (76.48) Danny van Trijp
Michele Turetta (87.13) 6 | 5 (85.85) Robert Owen
Joe Cullen (91.08) 6 | 5 (90.23) Nathan Rafferty
Thibault Tricole () 6 | 4 () Rowby-John Rodriguez
Stephen Bunting (98.24) 6 | 5 (79.55) Callum Goffin
Darren Beveridge (95.21) 6 | 1 (87.45) Justin Hood
Luke Woodhouse (87.38) 6 | 4 (89.43) Richard Veenstra
Haupai Puha (90.92) 6 | 5 (92.19) Krzysztof Ratajski
Damon Heta (101.22) 6 | 2 (97.87) Kevin Doets
Keegan Brown (89.68) 6 | 2 (90.05) Geert Nentjes
Jermaine Wattimena (92.11) 6 | 2 (84.53) Jacques Labre
James Hurrell (94.23) 6 | 4 (84.88) William Borland
Gerwyn Price (101.91) 6 | 3 (98.92) Mervyn King
Jitse Van der Wal (83.54) 6 | 3 (88.46) Dragutin Horvat
Wessel Nijman (108.74) 6 | 4 (112.71) Raymond van Barneveld
Jurjen van der Velde (81.71) 6 | 5 (86.87) Christian Perez
Christian Kist (86.56) 6 | 5 (90.15) Luke Humphries
Adam Hunt (85.39) 6 | 4 (81.42) Adam Gawlas
Andrew Gilding (99.07) 6 | 3 (85.93) Joshua Richardson
Madars Razma (92.57) 6 | 5 (95.68) Ricky Evans
Josh Payne (98.12) 6 | 1 (86.91) Ricardo Pietreczko
Mensur Suljovic (91.19) 6 | 1 (86.80) Patrick Geeraets
Ritchie Edhouse (86.74) 6 | 2 (86.10) Owen Bates
Jelle Klaasen (99.25) 6 | 3 (94.01) Darryl Pilgrim
Luke Littler (91.23) 6 | 1 (83.11) Jamie Hughes
Nick Kenny (89.19) 6 | 2 (86.45) Martijn Dragt
Dirk van Duijvenbode (93.13) 6 | 3 (88.59) Alan Soutar
Martin Lukeman (92.42) 6 | 4 (98.92) Steve Lennon
Jim Williams (100.52) 6 | 3 (92.54) Rob Cross
Mickey Mansell (99.02) 6 | 4 (91.03) Stephen Burton
Berry van Peer (89.97) 6 | 1 (82.32) Ryan Joyce
Maik Kuivenhoven (86.91) 6 | 5 (87.02) Robbie Knops
Ryan Searle (91.44) 6 | 2 (89.56) Nathan Aspinall
Benjamin Reus (97.31) 6 | 5 (93.09) Chris Landman
Adam Warner (95.19) 6 | 4 (95.32) Brendan Dolan
Andy Baetens (94.06) 6 | 3 (91.35) Matt Campbell
Andy Boulton (91.24) 6 | 3 (89.50) Martin Schindler
William O'Connor (103.17) 6 | 2 (93.32) Callan Rydz
Mike De Decker (98.93) 6 | 3 (96.43) Dom Taylor
Graham Hall (93.09) 6 | 3 (94.65) Dylan Slevin
Ross Smith (89.85) 6 | 3 (91.51) Brett Claydon
Ian White (88.15) 6 | 3 (84.15) Tim Wolters
Gabriel Clemens (95.16) 6 | 2 (92.73) John Henderson
Rhys Griffin (87.97) 6 | 2 (82.71) Arron Monk
Gian van Veen (95.88) 6 | 4 (93.73) Simon Whitlock
Connor Scutt (93.41) 6 | 3 (87.96) Boris Krcmar
Michael Smith (100.60) 6 | 4 (90.15) Jimmy van Schie
Florian Hempel (98.55) 6 | 1 (84.80) Jeffrey De Graaf
Mario Vandenbogaerde (88.46) 6 | 3 (90.08) Chris Dobey
Jeffrey Sparidaans (89.86) 6 | 4 (91.88) Steve Beaton
James Wade (99.46) 6 | 3 (88.83) Daniel Klose
Scott Williams (88.15) 6 | 2 (90.20) Lukas Wenig
Michael van Gerwen (91.95) 6 | 4 (87.51) Lee Cocks
Ryan Meikle (88.99) 6 | 5 (89.98) Danny Lauby
Cameron Menzies (87.77) 6 | 5 (81.34) Radek Szaganski
Karel Sedlacek (101.74) 6 | 4 (98.73) Matthew Dennant